Shaped metal tubes are desirable for use in automotive body assemblies due to their strength and relatively low weight. In constructing automotive body assemblies that use bent, hydroformed tubes or the like, it is sometimes necessary to join a sheet metal body member to such a tube. However, it is often difficult to use traditional spot welding, riveting, or bolting practices to make sheet-to-tube assemblies.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of joining a tubular part to a sheet metal part with a flat attachment location for an automotive body assembly or the like. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of joining a tubular part to a flat part where the joint is robust and will contribute to the structural integrity of the assembly.